Louisiana Elections: Pinsonat, Jindal, Tea Party, Democrats

What can the Louisiana Democratic Party and Governor Bobby Jindal learn from election day results? How powerful is the Tea Party in the state? Bayoubuzz queried Bernie Pinsonat in the last of the two part series discussing the Louisiana 2010 election.

Bayoubuzz: What lessons can the Louisiana Democratic Party learn as a result of Election Day results?

Pinsonat: The democratic party of Louisiana is facing a very difficult challenge: how to remain relevant as national democrats continue to alienate sixty percent of the voters in Louisiana. My advice would be simple and based on polling data for at least ten years - gravitate towards small businesses and gravitate away from trial lawyers. Small businessmen are much more popular than a trial lawyer – plus small businesses provide a huge advantage for republicans in fund raising. Union support is another anchor democrats in Louisiana pull along as they campaign. This is a right to work state – gee, the democratic party chooses unions over small businesses. Kathleen Blanco figured this out – when push came to shove she sided with small businesses – not trial lawyers or labor. Next year Louisiana elects a new legislature – the republicans will gain control of both houses of the Louisiana Legislature. Republicans already control most statewide offices. Here is another suggestion: Edwin Edwards has the best political mind I have ever been around. Edwin Edwards has forgotten more about winning elections than any political consultant, including myself! Hiring a PR consultant – Edwin Edwards never needed one - Edwin Edwards was the ultimate on message PR machine. Campaigns today depend heavily on computers. Edwards depended on the computer between his ears. Edwin Edwards will soon be available for advice / Kathleen Blanco is another person democrats should seek advice from. She may be the last democratic governor to be elected for the next twenty years or so!

Quite a few Republicans will have challengers when they run for reelection next year / some of these republicans will not return to Baton Rouge as the tea party type voters will work to defeat republicans who voted themselves a pay raise. If you are a republican legislator and you need advice on budgets cuts versus raising taxes. Did you miss the November 2nd election results?

Bayoubuzz: The next major election will be the Louisiana governor’s race and state legislative elections. Governor Jindal has been a popular governor. However, he will be facing major deficits during his last year of this term. What do these elections tell Governor Jindal and others who want to run for office in 2011?

Pinsonat: Louisiana is not unique – most states are facing huge budget shortfalls and voters everywhere are hostile to increasing taxes and prefer budget reductions. Governor Jindal’s political base supports his no tax pledge and the necessary cuts to reduce the budget. The tea party crowd expects Governor Jindal to keep his no tax pledge and cut the budget. You can count on this group to show up at the state capitol next year pushing legislators towards budget reduction. I am not convinced Jindal’s popularity will plummet because of deep budget cuts. How will Bobby Jindal extricate himself from this political mine field? The 2012 budget deficit is the ultimate high stakes poker game being played by the governor and the legislature in an election year! Every political junkie in Louisiana has a prediction on the outcome.

What role, if any, will the tea parties in Louisiana play based upon the elections results?

The Tea Party crowd was a huge factor in the election of Jeff Landry. They (tea party voters) are not married to the Republican Party. They want government spending reduced and raising taxes is about as popular as the plague with this group. They are energized and motivated campaigners – any republican or democrat who happens to have lots of these people in his or her district – beware! They do not want their congressman trading votes to bring home the bacon. Our congressional delegation will find this group very hostile to pork barrel politics of Washington D.C. Mary Landrieu thought the stimulus package and the goodies she got for Louisiana would be popular with voters - wrong!